| Abstract [eng] |
The master thesis „Void Arbitration Agreement“ analyses the recognition of void arbitration agreement in accordance with case law as well as international and national legislation. The purpose of the master thesis is to evaluate the legislation in force, drawing attention to the fundamental theoretical and practical problems of void arbitration agreement, and to propose possible solutions. Compared to Western Europe, the United States and Canada, arbitration as a method of dispute resolution in Lithuania is not as popular. It is however growing in popularity amongst commercial entities as alternative method of dispute resolution. It is known that a valid arbitration agreement is required when trying to achieve dispute resolution in arbitration regardless of whether the arbitration is international or local, ad hoc or institutional. Moreover, the void arbitration agreement is one of the grounds of setting aside the arbitral award or refusing the recognition or enforcement of the foreign arbitral award. In order to analyse the issue of invalidity of arbitration agreement further, the master thesis is divided into four parts. The first and second parts of the thesis are more theoretical in nature. They focus on the problems of interpretation and application of the notion of the arbitration agreement. Furthermore, they discuss the most important principles and categories of the arbitration agreement. The institute of nullity of a contract and the differences between absolutely voidable (null) and relatively voidable (disputable) contracts are also investigated. In the third and fourth parts the author analyses in detail such grounds of invalidity of the arbitration agreement as non-arbitrability of the dispute, incapacity of the parties of the arbitration agreement, defective form and content of the arbitration agreement. Moreover, the principle of the autonomy of the arbitration clause in relation to the main contract and the impact of nullity of main contract on the validity of arbitration agreement is analysed. And then to complete the master thesis an exhaustive analysis of Lithuanian case law and the application and interpretation of current legislation by the courts follows. The fourth part specifically focuses on the challenges faced to validate the arbitration agreement in the arbitration and the national court. In summary, the analysis of the legislation and case law reveals that Lithuanian courts regularly apply the principle in favor contractus to the validity of arbitration agreement. However, some contradictions of the case law can be seen; the legislation on arbitration agreement is not always applied in consistent and uniform way. In conclusion, some recommendations on the improvement of the existing legislation and solving practical problems are provided. |
